General | Page 211 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 25, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1950s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1950s – Diamond Head opens to the public, the Waikīkī Shell opens, Pan-Am jet service to the Islands and Statehood. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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April 22, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the

introduction of Christianity
development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy
promulgation of the concept of constitutional government
combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine
evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition with harmony and choral singing

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is on an acre of land in the middle of downtown Honolulu. It includes Hawai‘i’s two oldest houses, the 1821 Mission House (wood frame) and the 1831 Chamberlain House (coral block,) a 1841 bedroom annex interpreted as the Print Shop.

In addition, the site has the Mission Memorial Cemetery, and a building which houses collections and archives, a reading room, a visitors’ store, and staff offices.

A coral and grass stage, Kahua Ho‘okipa, was added in 2011; addition of a reconstructed grass dwelling is in permitting process. This was the headquarters for the American protestant Sandwich Island Mission. Across King Street is the red brick Mission Memorial Building 1915.

While now not part of the Mission Houses, the Memorial building was built by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association as a museum and archive to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Protestant Missionaries in Hawaii. The city took over the building during the 1940s and it has since been converted to the City Hall Annex.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

In addition to the buildings which are part of the collection, the Mission Houses object collection contains over 7,500 artifacts, including furniture, quilts, bark cloth, paintings, ceramics, clothing, and jewelry.

The archival collections include more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations, and Hawaiian church records. Mission Houses owns the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world, and the second largest collection of letters written by the ali‘i.

The size and scope of these collections make Hawaiian Mission Houses one of the foremost repositories for nineteenth century Hawaiian history.

Included in the archives are some of the original WO Smith Papers associated with the Provisional Government, including the original signed protest from Queen Lili‘uokalani, dated January 17, 1893.

Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit educational institution, founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1907, acquired the 1821 Mission House in 1906, restored and opened it in 1908.

The organization developed a professional staff in 1970 and named the public program component Mission Houses Museum. In early 2012 they established a new name, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

A National Historic Landmark, Mission Houses preserves and interprets the two oldest houses in Hawaiʻi through school programs, historic house tours, and special events.

The archives, English and Hawaiian, are available on site and online. Together, these activities enrich our community “by fostering thoughtful dialogue and greater understanding of the missionary role in the history of Hawaiʻi.” (Mission Houses’ Vision Statement)

The Mission Houses collections are critical to understanding the dramatic changes in the 19th-century Kingdom of Hawaiʻi that helped shape contemporary Hawaiʻi.

With one of the most significant collections of manuscripts and photos of 19th-century Hawaiʻi, and perhaps surprisingly, the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world, the collection includes results of the recent Letters from the Aliʻi translation project.

The site and its collection is a community resource that help us all understand who we are, where we came from, and how this place, this Hawaiʻi we know today came to be.

One cannot understand modern Hawaii without understanding the 19th century changes that occurred through the unlikely collaborative partnership between Native Hawaiians, their ali‘i, and the American Protestant missionaries.

Today, is the annual meeting of the Hawaiian Mission Houses, reminiscent of the annual General Meetings of the early missionaries.

We are preparing for the bicentennial of the arrival of the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries, including my great-great-great grandparents, Hiram and Sybil Bingham.

As critical dates approach, I’ll be providing more on the bicentennial’s series of publication, programs and events, focusing on Reflection and Rejuvenation. (Most of the information here is from Mission Houses.)

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Hawaiian Mission Houses

Mission Houses Layout

Mission Houses Interpretive Display

HawaiianMissionChildren’sSociety annual meeting at MissionMemorialBuildingComplex (next to HonoluluHale)-(honoluluadvertiser)-1918

April 19, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Junior Football Conference

It began in 1929 when the owner of a new factory in Northeast Philadelphia enlisted the aid of a young friend, Joseph J Tomlin, to solve a recurring problem – the factor’s ground-to-floor windows were constantly being shattered by teenagers hurling stones from a nearby vacant lot. Others faced similar vandalism.

Tomlin had a possible answer – he suggested that the building owners get together to fund an athletic program for the kids. They agreed, and asked Tomlin to set up a program.

Fall was approaching, so football seemed a logical choice to begin the new project. He set up a schedule for a four-team Junior Football Conference in time for the 1929 season.

The Junior Football Conference had expanded to 16 teams by 1933. Tomlin met ‘Pop’ Warner at a winter banquet and asked him to lecture at a spring clinic Tomlin was planning for his league teams.

Glenn Scobie “Pop” Warner, born April 5, 1871 in Springville, New York, was captain of the Cornell University football team’ he got the nickname ‘Pop’ because he was older than most of his teammates. He graduated with a law degree in 1894.

Warner served as the head coach at the University of Georgia (1895–1896,) Iowa State University (1895–1899,) Cornell University (1897–1898, 1904–1906,) the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1899–1903, 1907–1914,) the University of Pittsburgh (1915–1923,) Stanford University (1924–1932) and Temple University (1933–1938.) In his retirement, he was an advisor to the San Jose State football coach.

Warner completed his career with 300-plus wins, however his legacy has little to do with mere win totals. His innovations in equipment, practice methods and game strategy laid the groundwork for football as we recognize it today.

Warner devised light-weight uniforms designed for speed, and invented the blocking sleds and tackling dummies still in use. Pop was also responsible for the reverse, the double wing, the crouching start for backs, many modern blocking schemes, and the reverse handoff on kickoffs. (Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame)

On the evening of April 19, 1934, the temperature dropped to an unseasonable low, with high winds and torrential rain mixed with sleet. Of the dozen area college football coaches scheduled to speak at the clinic, only Pop Warner showed up.

The 800 excited young football players kept him talking and answering questions for two hours. By the end of the evening, by popular acclaim, the fledging youth program was renamed the Pop Warner Conference.

By 1938, there were 157 teams. Back then, it was not a ‘midget’ or ‘peewee’ league; in the beginning, most of the players were at least 15 years old and a few were even over 30.

Competition was organized along top weights only, except for the youngest kids. Teams represented neighborhoods in the city, while suburban teams represented towns.

When World War II came, the Pop Warner Conference lost most of its older players. Some squads folded, while others merged. Only 42 teams remained. (Pop Warner)

In 1946, Tomlin envisioned expanding the program across the country; he and members of a local Philadelphia team headed to Hawai‘i to play against the first team there. (Balthaser)

in the 1947 season, there was a shift in membership. Many of the returning service-men abandoned football. Increasingly, the teams were composed of 15-year-olds or younger. Rules were set up for their benefit, including minimum and maximum weights. The era of “midget football” had begun.

The first “kiddie” bowl game, called the Santa Claus Bowl, was played on December 27, 1947, in 6 inches of snow before 2000 freezing spectators. The Clickets midget team, sponsored by Palumbo’s, a Philadelphia supper club, competed against Frank Sinatra’s Cyclones, a New York team.

The conference quickly expanded in the early 1950s. The Hawai‘i Pop Warner conference formed in 1955, Hawai‘i football great Tom Kaulukukui was one of its founders and was initial head. (Krauss) In 1959, the first national season began.

Pop Warner Little Scholars was officially incorporated as a national non-profit organization in 1959. The name was selected to underscore the basic concept of Pop Warner – that the classroom is as important as the playing field.

Proof of satisfactory progress in school is required. Players, as well as cheerleaders, must maintain a “C” average (2.0/70% or the equivalent) to be eligible to participate.

Boys were typical players of football (however, some girls did play the game.) Pop Warner later introduced cheerleading to the program.

The first National Cheerleading Competition was held in 1988 and now shares the spotlight with the annual Pop Warner Super Bowl, held each year at Walt Disney World.

Today, Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc is a non-profit organization that provides youth football and cheer & dance programs for participants in 42 states and several countries around the world.

Consisting of approximately 400,000 young people ranging from ages 5 to 16 years old, Pop Warner is the largest youth football, cheer and dance program in the world.

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April 18, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Princess Lei Lokelani

At the corner of what is now Baker Street and Marina Boulevard in San Francisco’s Marina District was where the Hawaiian Pavilion stood during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.

These Hawaiian shows had the highest attendance at the entire fair and launched a Hawaiian cultural craze that influenced everything from American music, to movies, to fashion. (Mushet)

“The hugely popular Hawaii pavilion … showcased Hawaiian music and hula dancing, and was the unofficial launching pad for ukulele-mania.” Hapa-haole songs were featured in the Hawaii exhibits and hula ‘auana, contemporary hula was born.

‘Princess Lei Lokelani’ performed traditional foot movements – ku‘i and ‘uwehe – to modern ‘ukulele and steel guitar songs – this also launched the hapa-haole hula phenomenon into broader markets. (Wianecki)

Today, hula has been divided into two main categories; hula ‘auana and hula kahiko, also known as modern hula and ancient hula.

Hula ‘auana are always accompanied by mele, and have soft and floating movements. The ‘auana is also inspired by the hula of the 20th century up until the late 1960s, including the hapa haole styled hula. (Torgersen)

The costumes of the hula ‘auana are different from the kahiko costumes, which usually involve a pā‘ū (hula skirt) and a top to match the pā‘ū for female dancers, and a malo (loincloth) for the male dancers, as well as anklets, wristlets and a headpiece made from traditional hula plants and flowers.

The ‘auana costumes often involve mu‘umu‘u (long dress or gown) for women and black pants, a shirt and sash for the men. The women often have large headpieces made from flowers and greens and may wear shoes as part of the costume.

The kahiko dances must always be danced barefoot, and the dancer is not allowed any jewelry or excessive makeup. (Torgersen)

By 1916, there were hundreds of Hapa Haole tunes written. That same year, reportedly more Hawaiian records were sold on the mainland than any other type of music.

And they came in all the popular styles of the day: in ragtime, blues, jazz, foxtrot and waltz tempos, as “shimmy” dances and–even–in traditional hula tempos, but jazzed up a bit.

In 1935, a radio program began, broadcasting live from the Banyan Court of the Moana Hotel on the beach at Waikīkī, and radios nationwide tuned in to hear “Hawaii Calls.” Not only did nearly every island entertainer cut his or her teeth on the program, many went on to become well known.

The ‘Princess’ was 15-year old Elizabeth Jonia Leilokelani Shaw; she and her family were a hit at the Exposition. “A native of Hawaii, Shaw went to Portland with her family, several of whose members are professionals, in 1906.”

“Her first professional appearance was at the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco, where she was featured for her beauty and talents as a dancer in the Hawaiian village on the zone.” (Variety, May 6, 1921) She was so popular that she was almost crowned ‘Queen of the Zone,’ missing the honor by just a few votes. (Wianecki)

For the next four years, she was doing vaudeville as ‘Jonia and Her Hawaiians,’ “in which she is assisted by her sister and a male Hawaiian orchestra of four pieces. Jonia’s efforts consist of two dances, one with her sister, who appears in male attire, and one as a solo.”

“The remainder is made up of work by the orchestra, one of the men handling a vocal solo with the others playing a duet with steel guitars.”

“The Jonia act is still suitable for vaudeville, notwithstanding the number of turns of this order that have been seen about during past season.” (Variety, May 11, 1917)

Elizabeth Jonia Leilokelani Shaw, aged 20, was stricken with pneumonia at Washington, DC. She was brought to Portland and died there April 18, 1921. (Variety, May 6, 1921)

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